Gates of Fire

So for the past two summer, I've put together a list of books that I have always wanted to read during the school year, yet lacked the time to read all of them. This summer's book list include: Gates of Fire, Clash of Kings, Mere Christianity, Problem of Pain, Killer Angels, Doctor Who and Philosophy, and The Problems of Philosophy. Now seven books to read in a summer is very ambitious. Especially now that I'm in Gypsy, and helping my mom with art camps, and working.


So far, I'm twelve chapters into Gates of Fire. It's a novel about the Battle of Thermopylae. The narrator is a poor Greek young man who joins the Spartan ranks under King Leonidas. The whole thing about the novel is that this certain king and 300 Greeks held a pass against the mighty Persian army.


Two things come to mind when I think of Sparta, Persia, and Thermopylae. The first thing that comes to mind is a movie quote from The Last Samurai. In the last stand of the Samurai, the American tells the Samurai about the battle of Thermopylae because it pertains to their situation.

"There was once a battle at a place called Thermopylae, where three hundred brave Greeks held off a Persian army of a million men... a million, you understand this number?""I understand this number." 

The Samurai later asks the question to which the American responds.

"What happened to the warriors at Thermopylae?" "Dead to the last man."

Probably one of the most powerful memories in my subconscious is this moment. For some reason, I thought the quote would be in some cheesy movie where there were big explosions and bad guys, not cultural changes from the past to the more modern.


The second thing that comes to mind is nothing that matters to anyone, but it still is funny. It's the word Persia. Now this word does not just mean the most mighty empire in the East in antiquity, it is also a nickname. It's a nickname for a boy I know who doesn't even know it. It is my personal pleasure, along with some of my best friends, to call him as such, because we didn't know him at first and we needed a way of referencing him instead of that guy who blah blah blah blah. Or something confusing like that. :) That's my little schpeal (if that is even a word) for today. Nothing intellectual...I just thought I should post. Have a wonderful day, faithful readers!